


Times Apart

by ArcMages



Category: Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Friends, M/M, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29213913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcMages/pseuds/ArcMages
Summary: Touya often heard this voice in the back of his head. It sounded so faint and distant. . . Yet the voice never changed it's words— always the same three lines and then a pause of heavy breathing followed by a fearful shout of his name.In which an accident causing memory loss separates two childhood friends whom are fated to one day face each other as enemies.
Relationships: N | Natural Harmonia Gropius/Touya | Hilbert
Comments: 10
Kudos: 9





	1. A Boy in the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had originally started the story during a busy time for a Pokemon writing challenge but I couldn't complete it in time so I took it down but now I have full intentions on finishing it and I'm excited to share it!  
> This is a short story so only expect about 4 chapters

Young Touya was quite the energetic one. He always woke up with a start even when he was tired from activities the previous day and he always enjoyed each meal his mom cooked for him. He constantly kept a smile on his face, even when he lost in a game against his friends. And never would he miss out on any of his school work. He was a good student, a good child, and had a warm heart. 

But of course, a young child, even so care-free like him, always had times where he had to be alone. Today was one of those days his friends weren't available to play with him after school. And being a social child, that did disappoint him a bit. But whenever Touya needed to be outside and enjoy himself without any company, he went into the nearby secret woods that branched off from the route connecting his town, Nuvema, and the town where his school was, Accumula.

The young boy trotted along down the shaded trees with his messenger bag by his side, enjoying the sight of the afternoon light streaming through the abundance of tall trees above his head creating strange shapes on the ground. He listened to the sounds of birding chirping around him and the leaves rustling in the slight wind above. A few pokemon were hidden in the bushes, or at least they thought they were hiding. A sewaddle seemed to watch him intently as he passed by. 

The pokemon in this part of the woods used to run at the sight of Touya, but because of his frequent appearances, they had eventually learned that the little human boy wouldn't do a thing to harm any of them. But they were still cautious around him considering that he was still a human and the two species had no means of communicating— especially when the pokemon weren't tamed. 

With his school supplies and work with him, he planned to do his homework in a certain spot in the woods that only he knew of. And soon enough, he arrived into the "secret clearing." It was a small area of the woods where no leaves shielded the ground from the sky in an almost perfect circle. And in the middle of the pool of light was a single stump where he always sat to do his work or just rest (never had he ever considered that the stump could've been the reason for the clearing.) Many Pokemon often came to visit this clearing, likely to sunbathe in an area where barely any humans passed by (except for Touya who was a regular visitor).

But today, something was different. The clearing had another guest— which was a weird scene for Touya considering he had never seen anyone else wander these part before.

A kid with messy green hair that hung down on his back was facing the opposite direction, unaware of Touya's presence. He wore a simple, over-sized t-shirt and brown shorts. He was crouched down next to the single stump, petting a purrloin that was curled up and sleeping.

Interest piqued, Touya quietly took steps closer, not realizing that his shoes were crushing the fallen leaves and fresh grass beneath, emitting faint sounds.

The other boy took notice of this quickly and turned his head to the side, getting a peek at Touya while still having one hand on the purrloin's lightly breathing body. He didn't say anything— only stared.

Touya, realizing that he might appear to be a threat sneaking up to the other boy, cleared his throat before approaching closing. "Hey, I'm Touya," he introduced himself and held out a hand friendlily though there was no way the other kid could take it considering they were at a decent distance away from each other.

The other boy kept his expressionless, green eyes on Touya before turning back around and watching the purrloin sleep peacefully. Touya took this as welcoming gesture and continued onwards, joining the boy.

"Is this your purrloin?" he asked curiously while leaning forward, resting his hands on his knees. 

The green-haired boy shook his head solemnly.

"Oh." But the scene seemed awfully strange to Touya— a human petting a wild purrloin. Weren't most wild pokemon more aggressive and alert to a human's presence? And so, he proceeded to continue inquiring. "Is this purrloin your friend?"

The boy opened his mouth and said so quietly it was almost like a whisper, "All pokemon are my friends."

"Ohh, that's cool," Touya said, while his thoughts read, w _hat a strange boy._

There was a moment of silence between the two. The strange boy took his hand gently off the purrloin's body and turned to Touya with a blank stare. That was when he realized that the boy was likely older than him maybe by a year or so. 

Feeling awkward, Touya placed down his messenger bag and widened a smile on his face, held out his hand. "I'm Touya, by the way! Have I mentioned that yet? What's your name?"

"Natural. . . Har,—" the boy started.

"Natural? What a funny name! I mean—" Touya interrupted him, having thought that "Natural" had already finished speaking. "Not _funny_ , but you know what I mean. I meant, interesting! I don't know anyone with that name."

Natural looked at Touya, rising one brow. Touya didn't know how to read the boy's expression so he changed the subject.

"Do you come here often?" He asked, genuinely interested since he had thought for his whole life that he was the only one who knew of this spot. "Where are you from? I don't remember you from school."

Natural didn't answer with anything except for a, "yes," which Touya figured was only the answer to the first question. Perhaps this boy was homeschooled? That would make sense. 

"Are you from Accumula Town?" Touya asked. "I'm from Nuvema but of course, we go to Accumula for school since that's the closest. We don't have a school in Nuvema Town since it's too small."

"I live in a castle," Natural replied bluntly, shifting his weight to sit on his legs.

"A castle? That's crazy. I don't know of any castle's around here," Touya said, slightly doubting his new acquaintance's words.

"It's hidden," Natural replied

"Oh! Like a secret base? Could you show me?" Touya asked excitedly. He remembered that when he was younger he would always want to build a secret base where he could run to and enjoy time by himself. But ever since coming across the clearing, he figured that the little area would do even if it wasn't as enclosed.

"No," Natural said.

"Why not?"

Natural didn't respond after that. He instead stood up with a, "I should go."

"Oh, okay!" Touya replied, caught off guard by the sudden farewell statement. He stood up with the boy, grabbing his messenger bag along the way, and held out a hand. "It was nice meeting you, Natural. I don't mind if we share this clearing." He said that as if it were his to begin with.

"You can just. . ," Natural said quietly, "call me N."

"Sure, N! And my name is Touya. Don't forget that," Touya introduced himself for the third time already. But he never had a good tolerance for people forgetting his name especially since people whom he didn't even know often knew it.

"Okay, Touya," N said and took his hand with a small smile.

They then shared a quick moment of prosperity before N let go and turned the opposite direction abruptly, walking off in the opposite direction from the closest route without saying goodbye.

Touya watched as he disappeared into the darker trees. Then he headed his out way out of the woods and back to the route that connected Accumula and Nuvema Town. He knew that back at home, dinner was ready and his sister, Touko, was waiting for him to come home first before they started eating. Touya always liked making new friends and meeting new people. Today's new acquaintance was a little peculiar but that only made their meeting more special. He hoped to see N again and perhaps they could learn more about each other, considering how different they were from each other. 

Adjusting his blue cap, Touya couldn't help the bright smile spreading across his face as he peacefully walked out into the afternoon light and headed home.


	2. A Voice

_"Hey. . . Wake up!"_

_"Can you hear me?"_

_"Touya?"_

_". . ."_

_"Touya!"_

And then nothing.

Touya often heard this voice in the back of his head. It's an unfamiliar voice, calling out his name over and over again. The voice was rather high, like a child in his preteens. It sounded so faint and distant. . . Yet the voice never changed it's words— always the same three lines and then a pause of heavy breathing followed by a fearful shout of his name.

The voice had started occurring after Touya awoke in the hospital one day with a bandage wrapped across his forehead beneath his fluffy, brown hair. That day, he had no memories of how he had ended up there. Unfortunately, he was the only one who could've known what had happened with him since none of his friends nor his mother were with him at the time of the incident. But he couldn't recall anything of the event. And furthermore, he couldn't recall any memories from his child years to his current age of 15. 

At first, his mother was so astonished by the sudden memory loss that she had broke down. But it was fortunate enough that Touya could recall his own name, age, and mother; things that one could never forget. After a few memory tests in the hospital that took place over a week, it was confirmed that he still retained his identity— just nothing in relation to any event that had occurred from the estimated age of ten to fifteen.

The doctors told him that he would regain his memories slowly within a few years. Touya and his mother believed them and they left the hospital to return home. As they walked through the route that would lead them back to Nuvema Town, Touya had heard that voice call out to him from what seemed to be afar. 

_("Touya!")_

"Huh?" he had let out while turning his head from side to side. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" his mother had asked, her interest piqued.

"A voice," Touya replied slowly. "I swear I just heard someone call my name."

"I didn't hear anything. . . Perhaps your memories are coming back! It must've been one of your friend's voice! Was it a girl or a boy? Oh, how exciting this is!" His mother couldn't hide her own relief.

Touya didn't say anything after that for the rest of the walk home. He couldn't recall memories of his childhood friends very well besides their names and personalities. The voice could have been a fragment of a memory. He would just have to wait for anymore memories to come one after another until he pieced them together. Still, the frightened tone of the childish voice was a bit unsettling to him.

Back at Nuvema Town, he met the familiar faces of his two friends, Bianca and Cheren, who greeted him with teary eyes (well, Bianca was most certainly crying while Cheren held the tears back). The two had claimed that they weren't present at the moment of the incident nor were they with him until they had found his unconscious, scratched up body at the entrance of Nuvema Town and brought him to his mother immediately. Considerately, the two didn't often bring up that moment nor did they question the extent of Touya's memory after he had recovered from enough rest and the three simply moved on as if nothing had ever happened. While hanging out with them in the route next to Nuvema Town, Touya would often be caught by surprise suddenly hearing that voice call out his name. But he never mentioned anything about it again, knowing that it was all just in his head. But the question still remained— who's voice was it? Perhaps Bianca or Cheren. . . Would they remember if he brought it up to them?

Three years later, Touya still hadn't regained a single memory back that he had lost. It was as if a part of his brain had really been destroyed rather than injured. But Touya had moved on from the mysterious incident by the time he packed his bag and headed off to Professor Juniper's Lab on his 18th birthday. There, he met Bianca, who enthusiastically waved her arms at Touya as if she hadn't seen him in a month, and Cheren, who simply adjusted his glasses as if he had been waiting an eternity for Touya to arrive. The three were given a pep talk about how to handle aggressive wild Pokemon, how to build strong bonds with your partner Pokemon, and the responsibility of the Pokedex. Then, being the generous friends Bianca and Cheren were, they allowed Touya to choose his partner Pokemon first. And so, without a doubt, Touya had taken Tepig to travel his adventure with. Bianca then took Snivy while Cheren took Oshawott. Excitedly, they practiced their first Pokemon battles and ultimately, Touya had won all of them.

This was a promising start for Touya who promised to be the best Pokemon trainer of all times. . . Or at least, out of his friend trio. And so, started the journey of three legendary trainers as they traveled at their own pace to the next place— Accumula Town.

Alone with his partner Pokemon in it's ball at level 9, Touya roamed the familiar city on his own until a peculiar scene caught his own. A horde of people had gathered to watch an old man, with a strange green hairdo and in a large cloak, who seemed to be making a speech. Interested, Touya joined in the crowd and intently listened to what the man had to say.

"We must liberate the Pokemon!" The man said in his booming voice, "Then, and only then, will humans and Pokemon truly be equals."

Unfortunately for Touya, he had arrived a bit late. Soon after those words, the man left with his body guards consisting of identical-looking people with gray hoodies on surrounding him and escorting him out of sight. The crowd then dispersed, an uneasy vibe emitting through the sea of mutters. Unsure of what to think, Touya simply walked off on his own too, replaying what he had heard from the preaching man. 

But just before he could get anywhere far, a tall, young adult male with messy green hair tied back had stepped up to him, muttering something about Touya's Pokemon talking. Confused, Touya questioned the strange male. "Talking?"

"Oh. Then you still can't hear it . . ," the male said with his lightly spoken voice, "How sad."

Touya just gave the male a look of uncertainty. "Who are you?" he asked, "I'm Touya, a Pokemon trainer aiming to fulfill the Pokedex. Not sure if we know each other—"

"My name is N," the male said, "You're going to be confining so many Pokemon to complete that Pokedex. . . I'm a trainer too. But I can't help but to wonder if Pokemon are really happy that way." He then lifted his face, revealing luminescent green eyes under his hat. A smirk formed at the curve of his lips. "I'll determine that for you. . . Let me hear your Pokemon's voice!"

And with that, a battle had started soon after. And while Touya had won with ease, he couldn't help but to distract himself in N's green eyes, noting how beautiful they were. And something about them seemed nostalgic. In fact, the whole presence of this "N" figure seemed so familiar as the two battled. It was something about the way he carefully analyzed every Pokemon's moves and how he reacted to their pain. In the end, he withdrew his worn-out Zorua and said, "As long as Pokemon are confined in balls, they will never become being perfect beings." 

And with that, he left. Touya's eyes followed him until he disappeared out of sight, out of town. _What a strange guy_ , he thought as he healed Tepig which was busy celebrating it's own victory to notice the wonder in it's trainer's eyes.

Deciding to move on soon after, Touya moved on to challenge the first gym leader with bright eyes to continue exploring the rest of Unova. He easily pushed N out of his mind— unaware that they would meet again sooner than expected. And that their fates clashing together at some point in time would determine the future of Unova. 

And less than a route away, N took one look behind him back at Accumula Town. His healthy Zorua, out of the ball, stopped in it's tracks and joined him by his side, as if it knew just what it's trainer was thinking. A small smile shown on N's features as he quietly muttered, "So you don't remember me. . . How convenient."


End file.
